Question

What did Tony hope would happen when he received first communion? What really happened afterward?

Answer 1

Antonio’s intensified religious doubts illustrate the extent to which he had pegged his hope for moral understanding on a miraculous epiphany during his Communion. His disillusionment indicates the degree to which Antonio is still a child, even if he is an unusually thoughtful and morally curious one. It is naïve, of course, for him to think that the act of receiving Communion might revolutionize his moral understanding of the world, but his power of understanding and belief is still so strong that he is able to convince himself completely. However, his childlike faith takes a blow after his disappointment. After repeated failures to receive God’s explanation of the existence of evil, Antonio even ventures the thought that God himself does not exist. His faith in God is further challenged when Ultima is able to lift the curse on Téllez’s home, an act a priest failed spectacularly to accomplish.